Okonkwo's Change In Things Fall Apart

Rick Godwin once said, “One reason people resist change is because they focus on what they have to give up, instead of what they have to gain”. In the novel “Things Fall Apart”, by Chinua Achebe Okonkwo resists changes when the british missionaries arrive and it causes conflicts throughout the novel. His defiance, warrior-like, manliness behavior leads him to his suicide when he realizes change sometimes can not be controlled.
Okonkwo’s nobility and prosperity is revealed through his success and leadership within the clan. Aristotle stated in “On Tragedy” that “He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous.”.In “Things Fall Apart” Achebe gives background information on Okonkwo saying “He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife.” (5). This quotation from chapter one demonstrates that Okonkwo’s nobility of prosperity is revealed by his success’ from his early years and forward. The villagers within Okonkwo’s clan love and honor him for his personal achievements, and he

In “On Tragedy” Aristotle says “That the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity”. In “Things Fall Apart” Okonkwo notices a reversal in his society after chopping a messengers head off “He wiped his machete on the sand and went away”(176). This quotation from chapter twenty-four demonstrates Okonkwo’s reversal of character after killing a messenger and getting no response or cheers from his fellow clansmen. Okonkwo’s reversal of character after this occurs is what sets up his suicide. This trait is shown by society’s development to deal with the missionaries and Okonkwo’s way of dealing with them is in conflict with the way his fellow villagers want to be handled. Okonkwo and his clan go through a reversal when the missionaries come and take over their